


I Think You're My Favourite

by ollieroseiii



Category: Phan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 07:09:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7158947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ollieroseiii/pseuds/ollieroseiii





	I Think You're My Favourite

It was a brisk Thursday morning in Manchester as Phil walked to work. He followed his usual routine, stopping by Starbucks to pick up a coffee. The baristas all knew him by name and started making his usual not-what-you’d-expect-from-a-guy-with-that-many-tattoos white chocolate caramel mocha. Although the staff recognized him, he still got a couple dirty looks from some customers. He knew exactly what they were disapproving of; the tattoos. He never understood why there was such a stigma around tattoos. It was his body, not theirs.  
Nevertheless, their behavior didn't surprise Phil. This happened all the time and he was quite used to it.  
"Phil." a sweet voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned to the source of the message.  
"Thanks, Amy." He replied to the barista as he picked up his latte. They knew each other well by now, as they saw each other almost every morning. She had asked him out a couple times, with him continuing to tell her he wasn't interested. She still flirted with him constantly, though, which bothered him a bit, but not enough to complain.  
After an awkward, one-sided flirtatious encounter with Amy, he strolled out the doors of the coffee shop, relieved that the pitiful experience was over. As soon as he got outside, the cold Manchester air hit him like a brick. It ran up his bare arms and brushed past his partially shaved head. This motivated him to move a bit faster down the pavement.   
Soon enough, he reached the tattoo parlor where he works. "Phoenix Ink" read the sign. Phil pulled his key out of his jean pocket, unlocked the glass doors, and immediately started to set up his usual workspace. His employees wouldn’t be there for about another hour, neither would any customers. He supposed he didn’t have to be there either but it gave him something to do, since he didn’t have much in the way of anything outside of work. He hadn’t been with anyone for years and he wasn’t really planning on it any time soon. Of course he had friends but none of them were going to be awake at such ungodly hours. Most of them worked there anyway.  
Since he knew no one would be in here for a while, Phil was surprised to hear the chime of someone entering the shop.  
“Hello?” Phil poked his head out from his office to see a boy with brown hair and a confused look on his face. Phil didn’t notice the confused look, though, as he was too busy noticing how cute the boy was.  
“Uhm, hi, uh, my name is Dan, I’m working at the flower shop across the street for the summer a-”  
“Oh yeah, Anne’s! I go over there a lot for inspiration.” Phil said before realizing he was interrupting. “Oh, sorry. Continue.”  
“Well, my aunt said I should come over here and ‘make friends with the nice artist boy.’” Dan finished.   
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Dan. I’m Phil, ‘the nice artist boy.’” Phil stuck out his hand for Dan to shake, which Dan accepted. “So, you’re here for the summer?”  
“Yeah, my parents decided I should stay with my aunt and get some work experience since I just finished school.” Dan lied, Phil didn’t notice.  
“Really? That sounds really fun actually. I love flowers. Anyway, want a tattoo?” Phil offered, not really knowing what else he could say to keep the conversation going. “We’re not technically open yet but I’m here and I’d be happy to give you a discount because you’re Anne’s nephew.” Phil continued. He was hoping to see a lot of Dan in the future.  
“No thanks, I mean I really appreciate the offer but I don’t really want to get one so young.” He replied before noticing the amount of tattoos Phil was sporting. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just a commitment that I don’t think I’m ready for.” He added hastily.  
“I totally understand. Well, if you’re not needed by your aunt I’ve got a coffee machine in the back…” Phil trailed off, staring into Dan’s eyes. Dan didn’t notice.  
“Sure, I’d love some coffee, thanks.” He followed Phil to the back of the shop. “Woah, is this your office?”  
“Yeah.” Phil’s office was decked out in drawings and some dried roses that Anne gave him a while back.  
“Is that a Muse poster? I love them!” Dan exclaimed, admiring the artwork. “That’s not an official poster though, is it? Did you draw that?” Dan was obviously impressed.  
“Yeah, when their last album came out I was kinda… inspired, I guess.” Phil was nervous but tried not to show it. He always got nervous around cute guys, cute anyone actually. Anyone with brown eyes automatically caught his attention and kept it for a long time.  
“That’s amazing.” Dan said in awe. Phil stood there with the coffee, not wanting to interrupt his train of thought.  
Dan noticed Phil’s gaze. “Is that for me?” he inquired, trying to minimize the embarrassment of the situation.  
“Uh, yeah” Phil stammered, handing Dan his drink. His attention was too fixated on Dan’s deep eyes and curly hair to focus, causing him to spill the coffee all over Dan’s moth-printed white shirt. “Oh my- I’m so sorry.” Dan gasped in pain and grabbed his chest.  
“It’s fine. This really hurts, though. Do you happen to have a car? I might want to go see a doctor about the burns.” Dan could barely speak from the pain but he didn’t want his aunt to worry. He would call her after he was bandaged.  
“Yes. Uh, I mean yes I do have a car but it’s down the road at my apartment building, are you gonna be okay for the ride there? Don’t you want your aunt to take you?” Phil grabbed his keys and carefully tried to walk Dan out of the shop.  
“No,” Dan answered Phil’s question, “my aunt will freak. She always overreacts.”  
“Oh, okay I can take you then, as long as you’re okay to walk a little bit.” Phil reassured, calming down a bit. Only a little bit.  
They walked a few blocks to Phil’s apartment building and into a parking garage. Phil led Dan to a small car, that looked like a wreck with a great stereo system, and opened the passenger door for him.  
“Okay, buckle your seat belt. Wait no, don’t!” Phil exclaimed in a panic, realizing the seatbelt would irritate Dan’s burns.  
“Dude, calm down, I’m fine, really.” Dan insisted.  
“Right, right okay.” Phil stated. He climbed into the car in the side opposite Dan, his long legs barely fitting beneath the steering wheel. He started up the car and drove them out of the garage and south, towards the nearest hospital.  
“Thanks for driving me. I really wouldn’t want my aunt to worry about it.” Dan tried his best to relax but he couldn’t.  
“Yeah, it’s nothing considering the fact that I spilled the coffee on you. I’m really sorry about that, by the way. I promise this isn’t usually the first impression I try to give off.” Phil knew Dan wasn’t angry but you can’t spill coffee on a stranger without apologizing.  
“It’s no problem really. I mean it’s painful, yeah, but it gets me out of the shop.” Dan joked before realizing it. Yikes. He thought.   
“Why would you want to get out of the shop? Didn’t you just get here?” Phil wondered. He regretted asking as soon as he saw how uncomfortable Dan seemed to be.  
“Yeah, uh,” Dan struggled to come up with another lie but he didn’t want Phil to know the truth. Not yet. He didn’t want Phil to hate him. “My aunt is just kinda crazy sometimes, you know? I accidentally dropped a flower pot and she wasn’t happy.”  
“Oh,” Phil was quiet for a second, “Well we’re here. Do you need any help walking in?”  
“If you don’t want to stay you don’t have to. I should be fine alone.” Dan lied again. He knew he liked Phil from the moment he saw him. He liked his tattoos and he liked how good he was at art and he liked his crystal blue eyes and everything else about him. And he seemed nice too.  
“I’ll walk you in. It’s the least I could do.” Phil got out of the car and walked around to the other side to help Dan out.  
“Thanks.” he sighed as he was finally able to stand. He could feel his skin blistering under his shirt. “This is kind of an awkward question but would you mind helping me unbutton this? It’s really uncomfortable.”  
“Oh, yeah sure. I owe you this” Phil stopped to carefully undo the buttons on the stained white shirt. “This was a really nice shirt, where’d you get it? I’ll buy you a new one if you’d like.”  
“Oh, no don’t worry about it please, it’s fine.” Dan begged. He felt really awkward getting this much attention from someone he had just met, but also didn’t mind because that someone is very attractive.   
“Okay…” Phil wasn’t convinced. After helping Dan with the shirt the pair walked into the ER and were welcomed by a nurse at the front desk. Of course the people inside were not as welcoming to the two, as Phil was wearing all black, showing off most of his tattoos and Dan was shirtless.  
“Just fill out these forms and a doctor will be out to see you in a few minutes.” She said, handing Phil a clipboard, not even flinching at the state of Dan’s chest. The boys found a place to sit in the crowded room and began attempting to fill out the forms.  
“I can do it, really.” Dan held his hand out for the clipboard but Phil held it out of his reach.  
“Are you sure?” Phil asked, and Dan nodded. “Okay, let me know if it hurts too much.” Phil gave him the papers.  
“Thanks for driving me.” Dan said, scribbling his information on the page.  
“It’s not a problem, really. Hannah should be getting to the shop any minute and can take care of anyone who comes through. Oh jeez I should probably call her…” Phil quickly pulled out his phone and was calling before Dan could ask who Hannah even is. He kept writing.  
“Hey, Hannah… Yeah I know I’m not there. I had to bring Dan to the ER… He’s Anne’s nephew. Visiting for the summer… Yeah… Okay, Han.” Phil rolled his eyes. “Okay, Hannah… Yep I love you too.” At those words Dan could feel his heart sink into his stomach. He’s straight. “I’ll see you later. Thanks for taking over… Bye.” Phil hung up the call and put his phone back in his pocket. “Sorry ‘bout that. I completely forgot about the shop for a bit.” Phil chuckled and leaned back in his chair.  
“So is Hannah your girlfriend or something?” Dan asked, finishing the paperwork.   
“Oh, no she’s just my best friend. We tried dating once and decided it didn’t work.” Phil laughed a bit. Dan suddenly felt a bit better, despite the burns on his chest. “Do you want me to wait while you’re in there?”  
“Oh, no I should be fine. I can have them call my-”  
“Daniel Howell?” A woman in pale blue scrubs opened a door in the far left corner of the room. Phil quickly pulled out his wallet and gave Dan a small piece of paper after scribbling something on the back.  
“Here’s a card for the shop, my number is on the back. Call me when you’re back home, okay?” Dan took the card and nodded with a thank you, before following the nurse. She led him down a brightly-lit white hallway into a brightly-lit white room where she weighed him and took his temperature.  
“I know you don’t have a fever or anything, but it’s required.” She apologised, realising how unnecessary it was.  
“It’s fine, I understand.” Dan nodded, as the nurse led him into a different brightly-lit white room with a doctor inside.  
“Hello, uh,” the nurse handed the doctor Dan’s papers and left the room, “Daniel. Please sit here.” The doctor motioned to a cushioned table thing and Dan sat down. The doctor asked him some questions before and during the examination of his chest.  
“So, Mr. Howell, how exactly did this happen?”  
“Well, I was with this guy, a friend, and he made me coffee and I got distracted and ran into him.” Dan lied. He didn’t really know what happened, he was too distracted by Phil. Oh, Phil.  
“Ah.” That’s all the doctor said before bandaging Dan’s upper body and prescribing him some pills Dan didn’t really care about enough to remember the names of. “Go to your regular doctor in a week for a check in and only sleep on your back or you could irritate the injury.”   
“Thanks.” Dan was still holding the card with Phil’s number on it. He tucked it into his pocket while standing up.  
“Please check out at the front desk before leaving.” The doctor said with a blank expression. Dan nodded and left the room. As he entered the waiting room he was overwhelmed by the scent of fish.  
I don’t even want to know. He thought, now speed walking to the front desk so he didn’t have to look at all of the accident products that surrounded him. Luckily, checking out was quick and easy so he was able to get outside and find a bench before beginning to call his aunt.  
“Hey,” he started but was interrupted.  
“Where the hell have you been, Daniel?” Anne was almost screaming into the phone.  
“Well, uhm, I’m-”  
“I have called you seven times! Your parents sent you here to have a learning experience I can’t teach you if I can’t get a hold of you!”  
“Yeah, I know I’m really sorry. Can you come pick me up? I-”  
“Where are you? I thought I sent you across the street to meet Phillip but when I went over there looking for you Miss Hannah informed me that neither of you were there. Why is that?”  
“I’m at the ER. I got some pretty bad burns…”  
“Oh, Dan, why didn’t you tell me?” Her tone softened as she realised that he was most likely in pain.  
“I didn’t want you to worry until I knew how bad it was. It’s fine though, Phil gave me a ride here.” Dan explained softly, so she wouldn’t freak out again.  
“Alright, I’m on my way.” Anne hung up the phone. Dan thought about Phil. All of his tattoos and his muse poster and his eyes. He barely knew the guy but felt closer to him than anyone else.

It wasn’t until Dan had gotten back to the flower shop and his aunt had rushed off to go do some flower shop-related things that he finally got a chance to call Phil. He just hadn’t had time between all the forced “it’s fine”s and “I’m sorry but-”s during the ride back from the hospital, and he knew that trying to call Phil while his meddling aunt was in the car would have been a sad and pitiful experience, for all parties involved.  
“Hey!” Dan said with a bit too much enthusiasm once Phil picked up.  
“Hi, are you still at the hospital?”   
“Oh, no, no, my aunt picked me up.” Dan replied, soothing Phil’s worry.  
“Good, good.”  
The line was silent for a minute.  
“So, uh, what’s up?” asked Dan.  
“Nothin’ much, finishing up a tattoo.” Phil said this with such ease it almost frightened the younger, suburban-bred boy.  
“Oh. Um, okay, what’s it of?” Dan inquired, trying to act like this was normal to him, too.  
“It’s a….”  
?????? Dan thought.  
“It’s…. kinda hard to describe. D’you wanna come see it?”  
Now?? Dan looked around him at the flower shop. Watching a person repeatedly get poked by a needle in order to make a design they might hate in ten years wasn’t exactly in his comfort zone. Then again, he was a different type of uncomfortable here.  
So Dan walked across the street to Phil’s tattoo parlor. He entered the room to be surprised by the people there. He had expected, well, bikers, rock artists, the type of scary people covered in tattoos that had somehow found a piece of skin not covered in ink and sought out another (less scary) human covered in tattoos to fix the problem.  
Instead, he found that the parlor was filled (well, not filled, there were maybe 5 people who intended to get tattoos, and various others simply there for moral support or decision making help) with seemingly normal people. Dan’s stereotypical thinking was probably inserted by his parents, who were convinced that the only people that would dare to enter a tattoo parlor would have a bad influence on their son.  
Dan walked up to the front desk and saw a girl who he assumed was Hannah and asked for Phil.  
“He should be in the back there, either in his office or one of the tattoo stations. You’re Dan right?”  
“Oh, uh, yeah that’s me. Dan the man.” He cringed as soon as he said it but Hannah just laughed and went back to her work.  
“Phil?” Dan called out, sticking his head in the office. Not there.  
“Oh Dan, hey! I’m in here.” He called from the tattoo station on the other side of the hallway. “The guy I was working on just left. You sure you don’t want one?”  
“Oh, yeah, not today at least. I think I’m in enough pain.” Dan chuckled, grabbing at his burnt chest and looking at the ground.  
“Oh yeah, sorry again. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?” Phil asked.  
“No no driving me to the hospital was enough thank you so much for that, by the way.” Dan looked up and made eye contact with the other boy. He wanted so badly just to ask him for coffee -- but he figured it might be a little too soon.  
“Of course. It was really no problem. If you ever need a ride anywhere let me know, okay?” Phil couldn’t help but want to be closer to the other boy, and if being his own personal taxi was the only way to do it, that’s what he would do.  
“Thanks. Uh, would you, uh, maybe, um, want to meet for, uh, coffee sometime?” Dan asked. Even if it’s not a date, Dan knew he needed to make friends this summer to save him from the hell that was his aunt’s house.   
Phil blushed, “Oh, yeah! That sounds really fun actually. I honestly could always use an excuse to get out. Tomorrow?”   
“Yeah that sounds good.” Dan didn’t notice Phil blushing (as he was too busy blushing himself).   
“Alright well, I should probably get my next client. I will see you tomorrow though. Text me later?” Phil felt horrible to kick Dan out but he really needed to get some work done.  
“Yeah definitely. See you tomorrow!” Dan waved and walked out of the shop with a huge grin plastered on his face.  
Phil went to the lobby of the parlor to find his next client.   
“So, his name is Dan. Got anything else to tell me about him?” Hannah pulled Phil aside as he entered the lobby.  
“I have to get to this next client. Come over after work?” Hannah nodded and Phil moved on to his next appointment.

“Daniel I’m home!” Anne shouted from the front door, “Can you come here please? We need to have a conversation.”  
Dan groaned to himself. He forgot that the whole reason he was even here was so his aunt could “un-gay” him. His parents couldn’t stand the thought of having a gay son so they sent him away for the summer, as if that was going to help him.  
“Yeah just a minute!” He knew that there was no way he could escape having this conversation, no matter how often he was busy or was with Phil. Oh, Phil. Kinda ruins the whole un-gay thing. Dan was definitely attracted to Phil and there was nothing he could do about it. He tried to put the thoughts of Phil in the back of his mind as he went to meet his aunt in the kitchen.  
“Danny! Did you take your medication?” Anne had a worried look on her face.  
“Yeah I have them by the bed so I can remember to take them.”  
“Good good,” Anne sat down at the kitchen table and motioned for Dan to join her. “Now I know your mother sent you here for a reason,” Dan tensed, “but I have no idea what that reason is. All she told me is that I needed to ‘teach that boy a lesson.’ So I’m gonna ask you. What did you do that I need to tell you to never do again?”  
Dan was incredibly confused. His parents couldn’t even admit that he was gay, even to tell aunt Anne about it. He knew he could lie to her and get off easy. But maybe she would be okay with it. Dan didn’t know how she would react.  
“Well I, uh,”  
“You didn’t get in a fight did you?” Anne was getting impatient.   
“No, no. Um, I’m, uh, I’m g-gay.” He decided to tell her and just take whatever punishment she saw fit. It’s not like she can change him over the course of two months and he will just move out as soon as he starts at uni.  
“Oh, Dan. I know. Is that why your parents sent you here? I thought that you had done something wrong!” Dan took in a big breath he didn’t realize that he was holding in.   
“Y-you know?” he asked, trying not to cry out of relief.  
“Of course I know. That’s why I sent you over to talk to Phil.”  
“Wait, Phil? You’re trying to set up me and Phil?” Dan’s heart wouldn’t calm down. This means Phil likes boys, right? He thought.  
“Of course I was, Daniel. How did it go? I mean he spilled some coffee on you but, was everything else okay?” Anne wasn’t homophobic. She wanted Dan to be happy.  
“Uh I guess. He likes Muse. And we’re going for coffee tomorrow but I can’t tell if it’s a date or not.” Dan felt a lot better knowing that his aunt wasn’t going to try to convert him. He didn’t quite understand why he thought she would. She was quite young and seemed fairly liberal.  
“Ooh, what time?” Anne was more interested in her nephew’s love life than her own.  
“I’m not sure. I will let you know though.” Dan smiled, no longer worried about keeping his possible date a secret.  
“Awesome! I’m gonna go meet up with my friend Robbie for drinks. Do you need anything while I’m out?” Anne stood up and picked up her coat from the chair next to her.  
“I don’t think so. Have fun!”

“So. Dan.” Hannah plopped herself down on Phil’s couch.  
“Yes. Dan.”  
“So what’s the deal with him? Is he a potential boyfriend?” Hannah sprawled her short body across the sofa, her leg resting on Phil’s knee.  
“I don’t know. I mean I don’t think he’s straight. But he thought we were dating so he could be. But I have no idea because Anne always sends cute boys over. This one is just, you know, her nephew.” Phil didn’t really know what to say. He was excited about his potential date but he had no idea if it was a date or if they were just dudes being dudes, getting coffee together in a totally straight way.  
“Wait did he seem upset when he asked if we were together?” Hannah was the expert male behaviour.   
“I have no idea! I mean I guess he probably was upset because I had just boiled his chest, you know?”  
“Ah. Well I’m gonna say dress for a date and if he asks why you’re so dressed up then it’s not a date. Or you could just ask him and be straightforward. If it’s not a date it might be awkward for a few minutes but you guys seemed to really hit it off today so it’s probably a good idea to ask.”  
“Okay but what if it gets weird?” Phil was worried that things would go wrong. He really liked Dan and didn’t want to ruin things after only one day.  
“Just text me and I’ll come up with some emergency. Don’t worry about it.” Hannah smiled and sat up.  
Phil smiled back at her. “Thanks, Han.”

“So, Dan, I, uh, I’ve been meaning to ask you… Uh, is this, um, is this a date?” Phil stuttered but forced the words out because he couldn’t handle not knowing.  
Dan paused, “I mean. Do you want it to be a date?” Dan always found a way to be flirtatious, even in the most nerve-wracking situations.  
Phil was unsure of what to say next. If he says yes he has a chance with the most beautiful person he’s ever met. If he says no they can still be friends, right?   
“Hey, Phil, don’t hurt yourself, bud. It’s definitely a date. Anne was trying to set us up the whole time.” Dan smiled and it lit up the whole room. Phil blushed.  
“She does this a lot,” Phil chuckled, “But so far I think you’re my favourite.”


End file.
